Gallagher looking for London redemption

Australian athlete Jessica Gallagher says she will have "unfinished business" when the London Paralympics get underway in late August.

Gallagher, who competes in the vision-impaired F13 classification, was left shattered in Beijing four years ago when she was banned from competing at the summer Paralympics after tests deemed she was "too sighted" in one eye.

The news was broken to Gallagher only a day before the opening ceremony in Beijing where she was due to compete in the 100 metres, long jump, discus and shot put.

Gallagher chose not to the dwell on the disappointment, instead deciding to switch sports in 2009 when she joined the Australian Paralympic Committee alpine skiing program.

A year later, with the aid of her guide Eric Bickerton, she claimed bronze in the B3 classification for slalom skiing at the Vancouver Winter Paralympic Games.

The now 26-year-old was allowed to return to Paralympic competition in track and field when her eye sight deteriorated and despite a shortened preparation she impressed at the 2011 IPC world championships in Christchurch, winning silver in the long jump and bronze in the javelin.

She will contest both events in London and her motivation is still fuelled by being banned from competing four years in Beijing.

"Beijing was heartbreaking and it was a really ironic situation to be a part of. I have gotten over it and moved forward, but I guess the goal of me winning a Paralympic summer gold medal is still there and until I achieve that I'm still going to be chasing that dream.

"If I do win the gold in London it will certainly help ease the wounds, but Beijing was an opportunity that was lost. It's something that I look back on positively because it taught me a lot.

"It's helped me grow as an athlete, but I'm definitely hoping to tick the box of a Paralympic summer gold medal in london."

If Gallagher climbs the podium in London she will become the first Australian to win medals in both the summer and winter Paralympics.

She is confident about her chances, as the medal success in Christchurch came only nine months after her efforts on the ski slopes in Vancouver.

"For me the world championships last year, I hadn't been able to have that huge preparation like I normally would," Gallagher said.

"Whereas now, building up to London, I've had that base training and I'm really excited to get over there.

"I know the girls will definitely be expecting bigger performances from me."

The Melbourne-based Gallagher cites the transition from track and field to slalom skiing as "incredibly difficult" but she feels her long jump training has especially benefited from her exposure to winter sports.

"There are certain training elements as a ski racer that I can then transfer directly back to long jump," she said.

"One of those things would be plyometric training and explosive bounding, which in ski racing we us a lot of different techniques in the gym to achieve that and those were the sort of things I hadn't been exposed to in a track and field element."

Gallagher had recently been troubled by a hamstring niggle, which forced her out of the Australian Athletics Championships in Melbourne earlier this month.

It was only a minor setback and she is now in the midst of a heavy training block before camps in Brisbane and Cardiff will see her finalise her preparations for the Paralympics, which begin on August 29.